Arabic · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos

Samaa

समा
said sa-maa
also written: Sama, sama, sama'a, qawwali
Meaning

The sky, the heaven; the canopy of the firmament.

Literally: spiritual audition; listening (to mystical music)

How Iqbal uses it

Sama — the Sufi practice of "listening," the audition of music and devotional poetry to kindle ecstasy and remembrance of God, central to many orders. Iqbal, himself a poet whose verse stirs the spirit, appreciates the power of such inspired listening to move the heart, while keeping his characteristic guard against ecstasy that ends in passive rapture rather than issuing in awakened, creative life.